pan and scan

American  

[pan uhn skan] / ˈpæn ən ˈskæn /

noun

Television.

1. a technique for changing the aspect ratio of a wide-screen film, usually by selecting the significant section of each film frame and cropping the sides, so that it can be transmitted in 4:3 aspect ratio.

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Other Word Forms

• pan-and-scan
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pan and scan

First recorded in 1980–85; see pan ² ( def. ), scan ( def. 6 )

Example Sentences

There was nothing but great music married with talking heads, pan and scan of old photographs and get to the creeks at sunset.

From Time • Mar. 4, 2010